Governments revise energy policies due to increased global competition

Governments are revising their energy policies in view of the increased global competition, Dmitry Kumanovsky, the head of the Analytical Department at the LMS Investment Company (Russia), told media, BelTA informs.

“Japan has announced its intention to build three new energy units. This shows that the increased global competition and the continuing global economic crisis make the countries that have earlier declared the zero option on nuclear power revise their plans. Japan’s business and industry have long been demanding to return to nuclear power so that the economy could recover after the crisis caused by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 in the wake of which the country suspended its nuclear power plants,” the expert said.

Dmitry Kumanovsky stressed that Japanese companies burdened by rising electricity prices were forced to cut down the production and staff in the mainland Japan, and outsource the manufacture to other countries. It further affects the foreign trade balance of Japan which is suffering from the increasing gas and oil prices. "Given the fact that almost all developing countries, in one way or another, have marked their interest in nuclear power plant construction, and in view of the continuing economic stagnation, Japan's government has almost no options but to give up on the new principles in the energy development strategy if they want to make domestic products more competitive on the international market,” said Dmitry Kumanovsky.

As previously reported by Russian and other mass media, despite the great moral and material damage caused by the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government plans to build three new nuclear units. Construction of nuclear power plants in the north and on the west coast of Japan was planned before the Fukushima. But the plans were put on hold after the disaster. The Japanese government does not rule out revising the plans, given the current problems in the country's foreign trade balance and rising energy costs.